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Waxing Poetic: Exploring Expression in Art
How does one approach a piece of artwork? Waxing Poetic challenges museum visitors to do more than view art and process through private thought. Instead, visitors are invited to respond to the art through poetry and add their poem to the walls of the gallery to be shared with other viewers.
Through the use of poetry and intuitive writing, visitors are encouraged to engage with the artworks that intrigue them. Poetry serves as a gateway for conversation between viewers who experience the exhibition at different times, as well as a gateway between the viewer and the artwork.
The interactive elements of Waxing Poetic extend beyond the gallery walls; visitors are also invited to Tweet poems about the art that inspires them. Each artwork has an unique Twitter #hashtag and the Figge will retweet and post on Facebook the poems that visitors write, making the museum experience a virtual one.
The Figge education staff worked with the curatorial staff, the Midwest Writing Center, and Dr. Pat Villeneuve, professor from Florida State University, to develop this unique exhibition. This exhibition’s approach is based on a model that Dr. Villeneuve has developed for visitor-centered exhibitions. In her model, Dr. Villeneuve looks for ways to connect art and museum visitors in a meaningful way.
This exhibition will be on view June 9, 2012 - October 7, 2012.
Image: Ella Traugi, The Captured Spring, n.d., unknown, OP160.
Sunday April 14th